☆★☆★☆★☆★
Roger Ebert awarded four stars and celebrated the movie as a breathless series of adventures made by Spielberg at the top of his game.
In the discussion (2)
- Ebert’s four-star review is summarized as an enthusiastic defense of the film’s story and adventure machinery.
- Pauline Kael’s cooler review is treated as a parallel critical lens: she saw a well-made thrill ride but disliked what its success forecast for mainstream movies.
The enormous casting tree includes Deborah Winger, Amy Irving, Barbara Hershey, Sean Young, Jeff Bridges, Tom Selleck, Danny DeVito, Klaus Kinski, and Jonathan Pryce.
In the discussion (6)
- Philip Kaufman was initially to direct, while Deborah Winger declined Marion, Amy Irving was unavailable, Barbara Hershey was considered, and Sean Young screen-tested opposite Indy candidates.
- Jeff Bridges was liked and auditioned but apparently was not formally offered Indy; the hosts think he would be good but less physically hard-nosed than Ford.
- Tom Selleck was fitted and nearly cast until CBS retained him for Magnum P.I.; a strike later would have freed him, but Ford had already been chosen.
- Lucas resisted overusing Ford, Spielberg pushed for him, and Ford accepted salary, gross participation, and dialogue-rewrite rights while actively questioning production choices.
- Danny DeVito could not play Sallah because of Taxi, Klaus Kinski rejected Toht for better pay on Venom, and Jonathan Pryce was considered for Belloq.
- The Selleck/Ford choice is ranked among the most consequential movie sliding doors because it affects both Indiana Jones and Ford’s later career.
The panel proposes stronger villains and debates Kathleen Turner, Sharon Stone, Michelle Pfeiffer, Margot Kidder, Deborah Winger, and Sean Young for Marion.
In the discussion (3)
- Any stronger actor than Paul Freeman is the bronze change and John Lithgow as Toht is the silver.
- Kathleen Turner is the primary Marion recast for greater sexual energy with Ford, though others object that Romancing the Stone later supplies exactly that pairing.
- Sharon Stone, Michelle Pfeiffer, Margot Kidder, Deborah Winger, and Sean Young are alternate Marion ideas; the conversation ultimately leans toward Winger or Young while still defending Allen.
Research covers profit participation, production shorthand, Tunisia, animal work, reused footage and sets, props, stunts, costume origins, and the physical cost to Ford.
In the discussion (9)
- Lucas reportedly received between one and four million dollars plus gross participation, while Spielberg received $1.5 million plus participation.
- The script described the Ark opening only as “all hell breaks loose,” leaving the effects team to invent the sequence.
- Tunisia stood in for Egypt in extreme heat; widespread dysentery spared Spielberg because he ate imported canned food.
- The monkey salute reportedly required about 50 takes and a grape on fishing line; depleted stunt staffing led producer Frank Marshall to pilot the airplane for days in severe cockpit heat.
- Stock footage came from Lost Horizon and The Hindenburg, while the canyon location and hieroglyphs connect visually to Star Wars.
- Indy’s bullwhip sold for about $43,000 in 1999, and the Well of Souls occupied the same soundstage set footprint as the writing room in The Shining.
- Vivian Kubrick reportedly halted production over snake handling until additional protections were provided.
- Ford performed many stunts, bruising ribs, tearing a knee ligament, and narrowly avoiding worse injury under the airplane.
- The German-mechanic fight was largely improvised as Spielberg kept adding ideas, and Indy’s clothing was based on Charlton Heston in Secret of the Incas.
The panel questions effects, Indy’s durability and repeated survival, Marion’s alcohol tolerance, muted reactions to finding the Ark, the eye-closing rule, snake ecology, and the Nazis’ occult plan.
In the discussion (4)
- The dead-Molina dummy, Indy absorbing many punches, and villains repeatedly failing to kill him strain belief.
- Marion’s ability to win extreme liquor contests despite her size becomes a long-running physiology question.
- The Nazis underreact to proving the biblical Ark exists, and Indy somehow knows closing his and Marion’s eyes will protect them.
- Thousands of snakes appear to lack food or habitat, while Hitler’s occult interest and the decision to open the Ark are only loosely explained.
Open questions cover Marion’s bar, exploding-head fame, alternate casting, E.T.’s origin, Indy’s satchel, archaeological ethics, changing outfits, emotional reactions, and Indy’s motivation.
In the discussion (6)
- The economics and regular clientele of Marion’s isolated Nepal bar are unknowable.
- The panel asks why Belloq’s exploding head did not become the dominant reference instead of Scanners.
- They ask how much worse the movie and its box office would be with Tom Selleck, and whether E.T. exists without Melissa Mathison and Spielberg discussing it on this set.
- Indy’s bag prompts a satchel-versus-man-purse debate, and his treasure-taking is questioned as looting rather than archaeology.
- Marion’s frequent wardrobe changes and Sallah’s subdued response to her presumed death are treated as unexplained behavior.
- The largest question is what actually motivates Indy beyond holding and donating history, since neither money nor romance explains his risks.
Roger Ebert's review